A big bite with 5 minutes of fishing time left pushed Steve Kennedy's final-day sack well past the 20-pound mark. A big break on the weigh-in stage a short time later propelled him to his second Kentucky Lake FLW Tour victory in 4 years.
The red-hot, two-tour pro caught 21-06 today for a 2-day total of 37-05. He won by 4 ounces over hometown favorite Terry Bolton, who was assessed an 8-ounce penalty for bringing a dead fish to the scales.
Kennedy caught a 4-13 smallmouth at his last stop that allowed him to cull a 3 1/2-pounder. Coupled with Bolton's penalty, it was enough to bring him all the way back from the 4-10 deficit he started the day with.
The win highlights an already remarkable year for the 37-year-old from Alabama. He's logged three Top 5s in his initial season in the Bassmaster Elite Series, and he now has bookend trophies from this event, which he also won in 2003.
Runner-up Bolton finished with an official total of 37-01 (16-08 today). Nobody else was within shouting distance.
Gary Yamamoto was 3rd with 30-00 (14-14), followed by David Fritts with 29-04 (18-15) and Curt Lytle with 27-08 (13-11).
Here's the bottom half of the Top 10:
6. David Dudley: 26-05
7. David Walker: 24-13
8. Jim Moynagh: 24-10
9. Matt Herren: 22-13
10. Toshinari Namiki: 22-10
The winner was determined by a dead-fish penalty at this event for the second straight time. Anthony Gagliardi caught 3 ounces less than Greg Hackney in 2004, but won when Hackney was docked a half-pound for an expired bass. The tour didn't stop here in 2005.
It was a heartbreaking defeat for Bolton, a Paducah resident who's fished the lake since he was 4 and has won here at every level except this one. He started the day with a lead of more than 4 1/2 pounds and great hopes of accepting the trophy in front of numerous family members and friends.
Sun ruled the sky again, but the westerly wind calmed down a bit and allowed the anglers to fish most of their preferred locations. All 10 weighed a limit for the second day in a row.
Mixed Feelings for Kennedy
Kennedy was thrilled to win here again, but he also felt for Bolton – not only because of the penalty, but because he also knows what it feels like to squander a substantial lead on day 4.
"I know how he feels because I've been on the other end of these things," he said. "But for me, this is awesome, man. It's as good as it gets.
"I knew (the comeback) was possible because it's happened to me too. I think the world of Terry and I'd love to see him win, but I wanted this one bad.
He grew up fishing fishing deep structure on lakes such as Eufaula and West Point, and he feels nearly as much at home here as Bolton does. "Man, I love this place."
He made a downlake run to this final spot hoping to get in five casts before it was time to head back to the launch. He caught a no-help keeper on his second toss and hooked the big bronzeback immediately thereafter.
"I'm telling you, that fish put up a fight," he said. "Three years ago when I won here, I weighed in a smallmouth every day, and when Anthony won 2 years ago I seem to remember him catching one every day too. I guess the smallmouth are the key here."
Details of his winning pattern, as well as those of the 2nd- through 5th-place finishers, will be posted soon.
Terry Bolton was hurt by a dead fish, but he also had a big one get away.
2nd: Bolton Accepts Fate
The loss stung Bolton to the bone, but he looked at it as a case of fisherman's luck.
"It's really disappointing, but that's a part of this game," he said. "That fish died and went to heaven, and it cost me $64,000.
"That fish had been caught on a worm, and it was hooked in the roof of the mouth. It just up and died."
He said he knew it was a goner long before he went to the stage.
"I did everything I could to keep it alive. I went as far as dumping an entire bottle of Rejuvenade (into the livewell). We all know how well that stuff works, but sometimes it doesn't matter if you use a whole case of it, some of them are still going to die.
"That's just part of what happens when they first get out there (on the deep structure). They're stressed from the spawn and you're catching them pretty deep, and some just don't make it. I tried to catch enough to cull through it, but I couldn't do it."
The dead one wouldn't have factored into the equation if he'd boated his best bite of the day.
"I lost one at the side of the boat that was 6 3/4 or 7 pounds," he said. "It ran underneath the boat and when I reached for the net, the spinnerbait came unhooked."
He offered a salute to Kennedy. "Steve's a good fisherman, and I knew he had the ability to come back and beat me. But he's a character guy, and I know this isn't the way he'd have preferred to win."
3rd: Yamamoto So-So
Yamamoto had a lukewarm reaction to his finish.
"It's better than a kick in the butt, I guess, but I didn't do what I was hoping to do," he said. "I wanted to win, but I just didn't have enough fish. Those guys at the top were on them pretty tight.
"I only caught six fish today, and some of those guys were catching 20 keepers a day."
One of those six was a beaut though – a 7-04 that was the biggest of the day. He caught it after he'd resorted to flipping "the ugliest spots I could find."
He flipped up two other keepers to fill out his limit, then went back to the marina. He could only improve his bag by a quarter-pound or so.
"Overall, I had a good tournament."
5th: Lytle Pumped
Virginia's Curt Lytle, who fishes both the FLW Tour and Series, has been on a solid roll after starting the year with three straight finishes outside the Top 100. He's been in the Top 50 in each of his last four outings.
He targeted shallow fish on Barkley all week, and this was his first Top 10 since the 2003 Louisiana Delta Bassmaster.
"I don't like the word 'lucky,' but I feel like I overachieved in this tournament," he said. "The fish I found in practice were just solid 2 1/2-pounders, and I feel like when the big fish turned on, I was there.
"I feel like I read everything right and made the most of what little I found."
He never does well in cool-weather events, and his recent streak of strong finishes in warmer weather is standard fare.
"Flipping and pitching are my go-to techniques, and I couldn't do that at Murray and Pickwick in February," he said. "I've always stunk in cold weather, and I'll probably continue to stink. I wish we could go straight from Okeechobee to March."
David Dudley made the Top 10 despite catching nothing bigger than 4 pounds all week.
6th: Dudley Doesn't Mince Words
Dudley had a two-word reaction to his finish: "I lost."
It's wasn't that he came into the event thinking he was a surefire winner, but rather that he always comes to Kentucky with the idea that he stands as good a chance as anybody. He just came up five places shy this time.
"It's not like I had a tremendous practice or anything, but I love this lake," he said. "I always feel that I can find what I need here to do well.
"I found a couple groups of good fish, and it was just a matter of pounding them out to get what I had."
He caught a few shallow fish on day 1, but stayed deep the next 3 days. A shakey-head and a finesse worm produced the bulk of his bags.
"My biggest fish all week was a 4-pounder. I just never got the really big bite."
Notable
> Day 4 stats – 10 anglers, 10 limits.
> The victory bumped Kennedy from 89th to 52nd in the Angler of the Year (AOY) race. He needs to move up four more spots at the series finale next month at Champlain to secure a Forrest L. Wood Championship berth.
> Moynagh and Herren are now 2nd and 3rd, respectively, in the points. Moynagh is 35 behind Anthony Gagliardi, and Herren is just one behind Moynagh.
> Toshinari Namiki (10th) told FLW Outdoors that due to family and sponsor obligations, this will be his final season competing in the U.S. “My family is in Japan – my parents, my sister. I’m not married yet, and I don’t have a baby yet. If I keep fishing U.S. circuits, I have to stay in the U.S. at least half the year. It would be hard to have a family." He has five Top 10 finishes on the FLW Tour, including a victory last year at the Ouachita River.
Day 4 (Final) Standings
1. Steve Kennedy -- Auburn, Al -- 5, 15-15 -- 5, 21-06 -- 10, 37-05 -- $100,000
2. Terry Bolton -- Paducah, Ky -- 5, 20-09 -- 5, 16-08 -- 10, 37-01 -- $36,000
3. Gary Yamamoto -- Mineola, Tx -- 5, 15-02 -- 5, 14-14 -- 10, 30-00 -- $25,000
4. David Fritts -- Lexington, NC -- 5, 10-05 -- 5, 18-15 -- 10, 29-04 -- $20,000
5. Curt Lytle -- Zuni, Va -- 5, 13-13 -- 5, 13-11 -- 10, 27-08 -- $18,000
6. David Dudley -- Lynchburg, Va -- 5, 13-06 -- 5, 12-15 -- 10, 26-05 -- $17,000
7. David Walker -- Sevierville, Tn -- 5, 13-02 -- 5, 11-11 -- 10, 24-13 -- $16,000
8. Jim Moynagh -- Carver, Mn -- 5, 11-13 -- 5, 12-13 -- 10, 24-10 -- $15,000
9. Matt Herren -- Trussville, Al -- 5, 11-11 -- 5, 11-02 -- 10, 22-13 -- $14,000
10. Toshinari Namiki -- Mineola, Tx -- 5, 11-12 -- 5, 10-14 -- 10, 22-10 -- $13,000
